Montreal Gazette - Playing with chance

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Two lottery enthusiasts are suing Loto-Québec, arguing that the popular Extra feature isn't properly random

Two lottery enthusiasts are suing Loto-Québec, arguing that the
popular Extra feature isn't properly random.

The suit, which is seeking $40,000 in damages for the two
lottery enthusiasts and $20 million in punitive damages, is being
contested by the lottery corporation.

The legal challenge is just beginning to make its way through
the justice system but it does raise provocative questions,
especially concerning the randomness of the Extra numbers tendered
to Loto-Québec consumers. Professor Louigi
Addario-Berry of McGill's Department of Mathematics found
the matter intriguing. Of interest was the lineup of the 10 Extra
combinations generated by Loto-Québec.

"The odds of that happening with one ticket - the probability of
no repeats in the first or last column - is something like one out
of every 7.5 million tickets," Addario-Berry said. "Being able to
find many tickets like that seems like overwhelming proof that the
numbers aren't completely random and independent of one
another."